INSIDE THE Q: Q players selected for Team Canada add balance

The veteran coach has already won two gold medals for Canada at the world juniors and knows what formula works. It’s why he took the unorthodox step of inviting such a small group to the tryouts this year.

Only 25 players will attend the Team Canada camp in Toronto next week and there will be just three cuts at the end of it. Because there are only two goalies on the 25-man list, it’s expected one defenceman and two forwards will be released. This roster is almost a finished product already and that gives Sutter more time than usual to mould this group.

When you analyze the players Sutter and the Hockey Canada staff have identified, it’s obvious they have specific roles in mind for all of them and it has everything to do with becoming a Sutter-style team as quickly as possible.

For starters, Canada will have a cerebral, mobile defence that plays with discipline. Guys like Chris Bigras, Josh Morrissey and Derrick Pouliot exemplify this the most. They are all smart players who move the puck well and are well-suited to the big ice in Europe. It’s also likely why high first-round picks Darnell Nurse and Samuel Morin were passed over.

Those two players are aggressive, all-around defenders who spend their share of time in the penalty box. There is a different refereeing standard at the world juniors that would work against those players’ strengths. Sutter knows you can’t afford to give the other teams extra power plays at an event like that.

The makeup of the forward group is also quite telling. The inclusion of defensive standouts such as Baie-Comeau Drakkar centre Felix Girard and Rimouski Oceanic centre Frederik Gauthier, ahead of pure skill players such as Emile Poirier and Max Domi, speaks volumes.

As Team Canada executives are fond of saying, this is not an all-star game. Sutter knows the value of reliable penalty killers and energy players. And since there are only so many openings on the power-play units, a team only needs a certain number of snipers.

With all that said, I can’t say I have much disagreement with the QMJHL players who received an invitation. Halifax Mooseheads Jonathan Drouin and Zachary Fucale will be Canada’s best forward and goalie, respectively, so they were no-brainers.

Val-d’Or Foreurs winger Anthony Mantha is running wild offensively this year and is a power-play specialist. He will be a key sniper. Chicoutimi Sagueneens forward Charles Hudon made last year’s team, only to miss the tournament after a back injury flared up once he got to Russia. Obviously he was going to get invited back.

Given their defensive acumen, the Gauthier and Girard invitations also make sense. I thought Girard’s Drakkar teammate Jeremy Gregoire would have been a great fit in that role as well, but you don’t need to overload your roster with those players, either.

As for other Q players left out, Mooseheads defenceman MacKenzie Weegar is still working his way back to 100 per cent after spraining his ankle a few weeks ago. And as much as I like Gatineau’s Poirier, it would be hard to find an offensive spot for him with the likes of Drouin, Mantha, Bo Horvat, Nic Petan and several other elite scorers already in the fold.

And keep in mind, Poirier’s coach with the Olympiques — Benoit Groulx — is one of Sutter’s assistants, so it’s not as if he didn’t have a respected advocate in the selection conversation. Like every year, this is simply a case of Canada having a wealth of scoring talent to choose from so Poirier will have to wait until next year to have his turn.